OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World
Molestation charges against McAlester church elder dismissed on statute of limitations grounds
By DYLAN GOFORTH World Staff Writer
McALESTER - Charges have been dismissed against a Pittsburg County church elder who prosecutors say molestated children more than 30 years ago, with a judge citing the statute of limitations in a case alleging a church cover-up.
Ronald Lawrence, 76, was charged in November with 11 counts of lewd molestation, five counts of forcible oral sodomy, two counts of forcible sodomy and one count of rape by instrumentation.
Lawrence, an elder at the Jehovah’s Witness church in McAlester, was arrested after three accusers said he had abused them in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Associate District Judge Jim Bland dismissed the charges Thursday over the state’s objections due to statute of limitations issues, Lawrence’s attorney, Warren Gotcher, said Monday.
Court records show that Bland stayed the decision, pending prosecutors’ appeal.
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